Pages

Thursday, December 31, 2015

2015 was a good year of reading! I already posted a podcast about my best reads of the year (and a few other people's) but I also like to keep track of some numbers.

Overall I read Books: 244Pages: 65,186

Last
year I read almost exactly 50/50 male/female and this year my female
author number is higher than 50. I think it's the first time I've read
more women than men.Male- 114 (47%)Female -126 (52%)Multi - 4 (1%)

I'm
still reading primarily in print. I would say the majority of audio and
eBook titles are actually review copies that I get from the publisher.Format:eBook - 59 (24%)Audiobook - 29 (12%)Print - 156 (64%)

And then these are some fun categories that I track throughout the year:

Award
listings have made up a large chunk of my reading in the past, but this
year with the hullabaloo of the Hugo I didn't do much reading for
either the Nebula or the Hugo as I usually do. Still, I tracked it.Pulitzer 1National Book Award (USA) 14Hugo 1 (not from this year!)Nebula 1Booker 5 (4 from this year)Nobel 1

And I'm in a bunch of book clubs, so I keep track of that too.Book club – Sword & Laser 2Book club – Misfit Readers 3Book club – League of Extraordinary Dorks 4Book club – International Center of the Upstate 8

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

It all started in 2012 with a small group in Goodreads, who wanted to read 52 books "Around the World." I started collecting books for that challenge in October 2011 and haven't looked back! I have yet to read a book from every country, and unlike Ann Morgan, the reader who got a lot of attention this year for a similar project she completed in a year, I am taking my sweet time about it. I'm not limiting myself to one title per country, just at least one. And if I get attached to a place, I stay there in my reading.

I have joined a few more groups in Goodreads that urge me forward in my reading. One of the most useful has been "The World's Literature," as it focuses on a new part of the continent every year. When I first joined we read Japan (2012), then Turkey (2013), then Iceland (2014). This year for the first time they chose to read a larger region - Oceania and Southeast Asia. I narrowed it farther to just Oceania (apart from one country that is arguably in both regions) because I felt like Southeast Asia could have its own year. I have grown to let their choices be a very vague guide to my reading. I don't necessarily read along with all the selections, but still discuss my reading with the group. Sometimes I join in with a group read when it fits my mood or a country I still need to cover.

This year, I read thirty-six books from Oceania. What an amazing time I've had. I have no idea how to put it into words so for now I will make a list by country (the image is organized by date finished, most recent upper left.) I plan to reflect more on it on the next Reading Envy podcast, posting the first Tuesday of January. I will say that when I set out to do this, I intentionally did not read much from Australia, feeling as if I had done quite a bit of this already from Booker Prize winners to silly Phryne Fisher mysteries. I wanted to dig into places I had never been in my reading. Other than the Theroux I still haven't read a book from every country in Oceania. I will return to those at some point, but next year finds me moving to a new region of the world!

I also spent the year experimenting with baked goods from Oceania. You can read about those projects over on JennyBakes. With no further delay, my Oceania list of books!

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

I had a backup speed-dating episode hanging around, from a project I did in September. I decided to just go ahead and post it as a bonus episode of the podcast. It's just me, myself, and I, so if you think I gave up on a book too soon, let me know!